The Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy (NSP) has called on the Federal Government to increase its investment in rehabilitation centres in the country as they are important components of healthcare services delivery.

Prof. Felix Obi, a physiotherapist, said this when he spoke at the World Physiotherapy Day celebration with the theme Arthritis: The role of physiotherapy in management on Friday in Abuja.

Obi, who chaired the event, said that the association started the celebration with a walk called `walkout arthritis’ to create public awareness.

He advised the government to create a department in the Ministry of Health that would in charge of issues related to arthritis and disabilities in the country.

He said that the work of a physiotherapist was to meet with patients to assess their physical problems and disorders.

“Having made a diagnosis, you’ll then design and review appropriate treatment programmes using a range of techniques, including manual therapy, therapeutic exercise and electrotherapy,” Obi said.

“The World Health Organisation has approved the resolution on the need to strengthen rehabilitation centres in the health system,” he said.

He said that many people had a narrowed impression about the duties of physiotherapists as they tend to restrict them massaging alone, which was not true.

“We manage the pain, improve the functions of arthritis, help to treat, prevent diseases and rehabilitate the patient,” Obi said.

Prof. Rufai Yusuf, the Registrar, Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Board of Nigeria, said that physiotherapist essentially work on movement system of the body.

“The movement system is the integration of body systems that generate and maintain movement at all levels of bodily function.

“Human movement is a complex behavior within a specific context, and is influenced by social, environmental, and personal factors,” he said.

Yusuf said that physiotherapists were movement specialists.

He said that physiotherapists identity neuromusculoskeletal problems base on pathophysiology of skeletal injuries.

He said that neuromuscular disorders included a wide-range of diseases affecting the peripheral nervous system.

Yusuf said the diseases consisted of all the motor and sensory nerves that connected the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body.

He advised Nigerians to cultivate the habit of exercising and also ensure they eat healthy diet.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria